


Predator vs Doctor Who: The Hunter

by pigeonking



Category: Doctor Who, Predator Series
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-11 15:22:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10468101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pigeonking/pseuds/pigeonking
Summary: This is a story that I first wrote as a teenager in an exercise book. I only typed it up recently and rewrote some of it too. Now I'm sharing it here in its original serialised form...





	1. Part One

The Earth research ship stood like a silent, motionless monster amidst towering alien trees in one of the rare clearings that could be found in the dense jungle of Bevara VI. Alien creatures of many forms, shapes and sizes could be found within its ecosystem and the six man crew of the research vessel was here to study and catalogue as many of them as they could find. Some of the animals were large, dangerous carnivores so it was necessary for the scientists to carry weapons for their own protection whenever they ventured out into the field.

The planet’s blazing purple sun had risen to start a new day and the research team had gotten up early, ready to embark on yet another trip into the jungle.

Two of the scientists, Harry Newman and Thomas Quentin were staying behind to observe the team through the feed of their helmet mounted cameras that they all wore. The transmitted data would also be stored in the ship’s visual log for future perusal.

Newman and Quentin now watched as Professor Zorrin, the expedition’s leader, and the other scientists entered the jungle from the point of view of the helmet-cams visible on the monitors in front of them. All that could be seen at the moment was the dense vegetation closing in around them as if it were a living thing absorbing them in like microbes.

Quentin sat back in his chair and adjusted his glasses.

“I’m hungry.” He complained getting up from the chair and crossing to the food synthesiser.

“One plate of bacon and eggs and a hot cup of coffee, no milk, one sugar.”

“Your order has been recognised.” Intoned the computer. “Processing.”

Quentin’s order materialised onto the receiver pad along with a plastic knife and fork.

The scientist took up his food and drink and returned to his chair where he began to eat.

Newman stared at him, shaking his head.

“That’s the third breakfast you’ve had this morning!” he reprimanded lightly. “You keep that up we’ll have to start rationing the food supplies!”

“Very funny!” Quentin retorted through a mouthful of bacon. “You know full well that the synthesisers never run out!”

“Maybe so, but it is possible for them to break down from over use!” Newman reminded him. “And they take hours to fix!”

He got up then and ordered a coffee from the synthesiser. Newman sat back down again with a steaming polystyrene cup in one hand and they continued to watch the screen in silence.

 

Professor Zorrin led his team, James Franklin, Peter Lawson and Rachel Briers, through the jungle. They were all dressed in khaki camouflage coveralls, not unlike the uniforms of soldiers in the armed forces. Each wore a backpack that carried everything they might need in the field – research equipment, food, and water… that sort of thing. A standard military issue laser rifle was worn on a strap over their shoulders.

Zorrin carried a bio-scanner, a miniature device that was capable of detecting life signs of any kind.

At the moment there was little indication of any life in the vicinity at all, apart from the swarms of pink flies that buzzed annoyingly around them.

These insects were the only life that the team had encountered so far and as such had been the first to be studied.

On close examination via micro-laser dissection the scientists had learnt that the fly was relatively harmless and fed on the fruit that grew in the trees. They were also very inquisitive creatures and had the tendency to fly incessantly around anything or anyone that they found even remotely interesting which could often prove to be a minor, but no less annoying distraction.

The scientists knew that there was other life out there. It was only a matter of time before they found it. Unless it found them first.

 

The Predator stalked his prey stealthily, using the trees. The prey in question was known to the indigenous peoples as a Nauvok. It was a huge predatory creature that towered eight feet above the forest floor. The Nauvok had a beak like mouth that could tear flesh like an eagle; its body was covered in shaggy black fur and it walked upright on powerful legs with clawed feet, four muscular arms hung at its sides and its narrow, yellow eyes seemed to glow when caught by the purple sunlight.

The Predator wanted the animal. Its skull would make a magnificent trophy and the skin would be a marvellous bonus prize. The Predator knew of course that the humans also hunted in this area, but so long as they stayed out of his way he would leave them alone. He had not come to Bevara VI to hunt them.

The Predator bounded on a few trees ahead of the Nauvok and then waited for it to draw nearer.

As soon as it was nearly under his tree the Predator dropped down in front of it, camouflage mode engaged and spear raised.

The Nauvok halted abruptly as it sensed that something was not quite right just ahead of it. It could not smell anything, but the colours of the jungle seemed somehow bent and distorted.

The Predator raised his hand to the control gauntlet on his left wrist and switched off camouflage mode.

The Nauvok snorted in alarm as a strange creature suddenly just appeared right in front of it. It was tall, but not as tall as the Nauvok and it carried a long sharp shaft of metal in one hand. The strange creature’s face was blank and featureless apart from two glowing yellow eyes and was framed by tendrils of wiry black hair. Some sort of weird metal appendage was mounted onto the creature’s left shoulder. Whatever this creature was it was not something that the Nauvok had seen before. It was still food though.

The Nauvok attacked.

The Predator brought up his spear and met the charge head on!

 

Zorrin’s team heard the sounds of a struggle coming from up ahead.

They all unshouldered their laser rifles.

“What the hell is that?” Lawson wondered.

Zorrin looked at the bio-scanner.

“There are two life forms ahead of us. It sounds like they’re fighting!” he said.

“Our maybe it’s some sort of violent and bizarre mating ritual?” Briers remarked with a wry grin. “What do we do?”

“What sort of xeno-life form survey team would we be if we didn’t at least check it out?” Zorrin replied. “Let’s go!”

Before anyone could argue Zorrin ran on ahead. The others hurried to keep up with him.

 

The Predator had just dealt his killing blow and was twisting the blade of his spear from out of the dead Nauvok’s chest when he heard the sound of the humans approaching his position. He would need to work quickly.

The Predator extended his double-bladed wrist knives and in one swift movement cleaved off the Nauvok’s head. He then leapt up into the trees with his prize and waited for the humans to arrive.

Moments later they crashed into the clearing. They were like children; there was no stealth. No guile. They were not hunters! There were four of them.

They all carried laser rifles.

Four healthy humans that had a sporting chance of fighting back. It was difficult to resist.

The Predator looked at the head of the Nauvok. The flow of blood from the stump of its neck had nearly slowed to a trickle. He imagined what it would look like displayed upon the wall of his dwelling back on his home planet; he imagined the four human skulls displayed around it.

The Predator propped the Nauvok’s head onto a nearby branch.

The hunt was on!

 

The four scientists stared in horror at the huge decapitated corpse that lay before them.

Zorrin spoke into his helmet-mic.

“Quentin, Newman, are you getting this?”

“We sure are, sir.” Newman’s voice responded. “What kind of animal could do that?”

“I don’t know.” Zorrin admitted.

“Never mind what it is.” Lawson remarked. “Where is the animal that did this? Is it still nearby do you think?”

Zorrin checked the bio-scanner.

“Yes it is. It’s right above us… in the trees!”

He spotted three red dots of light that were ‘painting’ a triangle upon Franklin’s shoulder. The three dots travelled away from his shoulder and moved up until they were pointed directly between his eyes.

Too late Zorrin realised what was happening.

“Get down, Franklin!” he shouted.

A pulse of blue energy streaked down from the trees and burst apart Franklin’s head in a shower of blood, brain and tissue.

As the headless body toppled to the ground the remaining scientists began to fire their rifles into the tree canopy above them.

Quentin’s voice came over Zorrin’s helmet-mic.

“What’s going on?”

A metal spear shot out of the trees, from a different point to where the destructive blue energy had originated, and pierced Rachel Briers’ heart, erupting from her back and severing her spine in the process.

Lawson and Zorrin continued to pour laser fire wildly into the trees, but they could not see who or what they were shooting at or even if they had hit anything.

A razor sharp disc spun out of the canopy and neatly severed Lawson’s head from his shoulders. He fell to the ground, his dead finger still squeezing off laser rounds as he went. The disc returned to the trees from whence it had come.

Zorrin fired a barrage of laser bolts after it. He continued firing until an audible hum signalled that his power pack was exhausted.

Zorrin threw the now useless weapon to the ground and pulled out a long bladed survival knife with one serrated edge.

“Come out and face me!” he screamed in defiance.

 

Quentin and Newman were watching the live-feed from Zorrin’s camera when the blurred, translucent humanoid shape dropped down from the trees. The shape seemed to touch something on its left wrist and all of a sudden it became visible. Wickedly sharp blades extended from the gauntlet on its right wrist.

For a moment it just stood there facing Zorrin, and Quentin and Newman felt as if those inhuman yellow eyes were burning through the camera into their very souls.

Then the creature ran towards the camera – towards Zorrin – emitting a terrifying bellowing roar as it came. Suddenly the view of the camera was lifted into the air and Quentin and Newman got the impression of looking down into the creature’s blank face.

In a rather guttural parody of Zorrin’s voice the words “Are you getting this?” rasped from behind the mask.

In that moment Quentin and Newman knew that the creature was talking to them. Taunting them.

Then the blades became visible on the screen. They flashed once and then the monitor cut out and they saw nothing but blackness.

Quentin’s plate of eggs and bacon crashed to the floor as his numb hands lost their grip on it.

“What was that thing?” he stammered, his whole body trembling from the shock of what he had just witnessed.

“Whatever it is we wouldn’t stand a chance against it.” Newman replied. “We need to call in a rescue team.”

“Can’t we just leave?” Quentin asked.

“I can’t fly this thing! Can you?” Newman retorted impatiently. “Zorrin and Lawson were the only ones that could and now they’re both dead!”

He punched in the code that would activate the distress signal.

“What if that thing tries to get in here?” Quentin wondered, on the verge of hysteria.

“We’ll just have to hope that it doesn’t.” Newman replied simply.

The signal began to transmit.

 

The Predator turned the freshly polished skull over in his hand as he admired it, before placing it on the rack with the other human skulls he had recently claimed. They joined a selection of other trophies that he had accumulated during his stay on this planet. There were three Nauvok skulls along with a host of others that had been harvested from the many varieties of carnivorous or otherwise dangerous fauna that populated this jungle.

The Predator’s ship was cloaked within the opening of a cave that he was using as a base of operations during his little hunting trip. So far his efforts had been well rewarded.

A monitor on one of the consoles began to bleep and the Predator looked over to see what it indicated. A distress signal was being broadcasted by the humans from their ship.

The Predator gave a growl of satisfaction. More armed humans would come in response to the signal.

More trophies.

It would be a glorious hunt!

 

One week later…

 

Deep in the jungle the sounds of the birds and animals found themselves suddenly accompanied by a strange howling and grinding noise. A swarm of pink flies darted out of the way as a rectangular blue box materialised in the spot that they had previously occupied. The light on top of the box ceased to flash and the noise faded as the materialisation was completed.

Not long after one of the doors opened and three people stepped out. A man and two young women. The man was dressed in a brown frock coat over a knitted jumper that was covered in question-marks, a paisley scarf draped over his shoulders. He also wore checked trousers and a straw hat upon his dark haired head. In one hand he carried a black umbrella which had a red question-mark shaped handle and in the other he had a weird looking gizmo with flashing lights and twirly bits.

The first woman looked to be in her early to mid-twenties and was wearing a black leather jacket over a white Danger Mouse T-shirt and blue jeans. Her hair was long and brown, tied back into a ponytail and she wore dark shades over her eyes. A shoulder holster containing a blaster was hidden under her jacket and a blue rucksack was slung over her shoulder.

The second woman had short dark hair and she wore a figure hugging deep pink T-shirt with a white heart over her breasts. Tight black jeans completed the ensemble and she also sported a hip holster with her own blaster.

This was the Doctor, Ace and Professor Bernice Summerfield.

The Doctor was consulting the gizmo in his hand.

“This is where the signal originated from.” He proclaimed, pointing ahead with the tip of his umbrella. “Let’s have a look, shall we?” He treated his friends to one of his impish smiles before leading them off into the jungle.

 

The Predator had watched the arrival of the TARDIS from one of his favourite vantage points.

He was familiar with the Time Lords, but had not expected one to answer the human’s distress signal. The Time Lord did not appear to be armed, but the Predator knew better than to underestimate the Gallifreyan because of that. The Time Lord’s intellect was like a weapon in and of itself. He may yet prove to be a challenge should he choose to oppose the Predator.

The two females both carried blasters, but at present they were not drawn. They may prove some sport for him later. Until then he would continue to wait for the Earth rescue ship to arrive.

It wouldn’t be long now.

 

Ace tried very hard not to throw up as she stared at the four flayed and headless humanoid corpses that dangled upside down from the trees. She had seen worse during her time in the Marines fighting against the Daleks. The decapitated body of a large six limbed creature, also without its skin, hung there among the smaller human cadavers.

The Doctor was kneeling in the kill-zone, examining one of the discarded laser rifles.

Bernice was looking around at the trees.

“It looks like these people were trying to shoot at whatever killed them.” She said grimly. “The tops of these trees have practically been shot to pieces!”

“Professor, come and look at this!” Ace shouted.

The Doctor looked up to see Ace holding up one of the helmets that was lying about the clearing.

“There was a camera built into this.” She said, tossing the helmet to the Doctor so that he could see for himself. “They must have been transmitting to someone when they were attacked.”

“That someone is probably who sent our signal.” The Doctor agreed, wincing at the blood that spattered the helmet.

“Who or what could have done this?” Bernice wondered as she swatted at the ever present pink flies buzzing around her.

“I’m not sure yet, but I have my suspicions. I’ve heard about killings like this before.” The Doctor mused. “Come on! We still need to find the people who sent that distress signal. If they’re still alive!”

They left the clearing and its macabre scene of carnage behind them.

 

The Predator watched, his mandibles twitching into a close approximation of a smile, as the Marine rescue vessel came to land in the same clearing that housed the research ship. The human reinforcements were here at last. The hunt could begin in earnest. He wouldn’t kill them all at once though. This was a hunt that needed to be savoured as he picked them all off one by one until all of their skulls were his!

 

Commander Natasha Hill led her contingent of eleven space marines down the ramp of their ship.

She was proud of her squad, having led them through seventeen successful missions before this one. They were all highly trained and well equipped for any kind of xeno-warfare imaginable. All wore simple body armour and plasti-steel helmets and all were armed to the teeth with plasma rifles, blasters and an array of other death dealing weapons.

They approached the research ship with practiced military precision.

One of the marines was equipped with a bio-scanner.

“Commander, I’m picking up three unidentified life forms in the undergrowth, heading this way!” he called.

“Which direction?” Hill asked.

The marine pointed ahead of the research vessel.

Eleven plasma rifles were levelled in that direction.

Moments later a man and two young women emerged.

“Hands up!” Stay where you are!” Hill commanded, her rifle unwavering.

The Doctor, Ace and Bernice did as they were told immediately.

Four marines ran forward and indicated that the three time travellers should walk ahead of them towards the research vessel.

“We’ll interrogate them once we’re inside.” Hill decided. She spoke into the microphone on her helmet. “Newman, open up! The rescue team is here!”

After a few moments the hatch opened and a ramp descended. The marines entered the ship with their prisoners. Once they were all inside the ramp receded and the hatch was closed again.

 

The Predator had seen all of this from one of the trees overlooking the clearing. He was far enough away to have not been detected by their bio-scanning equipment. The humans were safe for now, but soon they would come out again looking for him. Little did they realise that it would be him that was hunting them!   


	2. Part Two

Newman and Quentin were waiting in the control room when Commander Hill and her men marched in with their three prisoners. The two scientists were surprised to see the Doctor, Ace and Bernice.

“Who are these people?” Newman asked.

“We don’t know yet.” Hill admitted. “We caught them coming out of the jungle just after we arrived.”

Quentin strode up to the Doctor and grabbed him by the lapels of his frock coat.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” he demanded.

“Let go of him, Quentin!” Hill barked irritably. “I ask the questions around here!”

Quentin released the Doctor and turned away sulkily.

The Doctor straightened his coat and offered an amiable smile to the commander.

“Thank you very much! I’m the Doctor; how do you do?” he held out his hand to her.

“Shut up! What are you doing on Bevara VI?” Hill demanded.

The Doctor lowered his hand, a slightly hurt expression upon his face.

“We came here in answer to a distress signal that was being transmitted, presumably by these two gentlemen here, as I believe you did too.” The Doctor told her.

“Well that’s a lie for starters!” Quentin balked dismissively. “The signal was only broadcast on a frequency that is known by the Space Marine Corps and no one else!”

“The sensors in my TARDIS can pick up any frequency!” the Doctor boasted immodestly.

“Where is this TARDIS of yours?” Hill wondered.

“We left it in the jungle somewhere.” The Doctor explained. “We found the bodies of four of your people hanging from some of the trees. They had been skinned and their heads had been taken. I presume that’s why you’ve been called in?”

“We don’t know the full details.” Hill admitted. “Newman hasn’t briefed us yet. Is that why you have called us in?” This last bit was directed to the senior scientist.

“Yes.” Newman replied. “I think it would be easier to show you why you are here, rather than tell you.”

Newman crossed to the monitor screen and proceeded to play back the footage from the helmet-cams depicting the horrific massacre for everyone present.

Once the footage had come to an end Hill turned away contemplatively.

“The attacker didn’t look like any of our prisoners.” She mused.

“You saw for yourself that the killer was wearing a mask of some sort.” Quentin pointed out. “Who’s to say that the rest of the outfit wasn’t some sort of elaborate disguise in an effort to make us think that some alien monster is responsible?”

“You can’t seriously think that one of us killed those people, can you?” Ace protested.

“It’s a possibility that I cannot overlook until we have evidence that suggests to the contrary. You three are strangers on this planet. Why should we trust you?” Hill replied.

“But what possible motive could we have for killing those people?” Bernice argued. “We didn’t even know them!”

“You could be scientists from a rival expedition who want to take sole credit for cataloguing the life on this planet. Or maybe you’re poachers who got caught in the act?” Hill suggested with a sinister smile that made the Doctor nervous.

“Why would we skin them?” the Doctor asked.

“To try and throw suspicion on the indigenous life forms, why else?” Hill replied smugly.

“I didn’t think that there was any intelligent life on Bevara VI.” Bernice said.

“Actually there is.” Newman corrected her. “The Bevaran people are peaceful primitives who have never given us any trouble in all the time that we’ve been here and generally keep to themselves. That’s why we’ve only recently come to learn of their existence. I suppose it’s possible that you could have tried to lead us into believing that they had become hostile.”

“What if they actually have become hostile?” Ace pondered thoughtfully.

“You saw for yourself some of the technology that was employed by that thing while it was killing our people.” Hill reminded her. “If the Bevarans are as primitive as Newman says then these attacks cannot have been perpetrated by them.”

“The Native Americans were primitive people before someone taught them how to fire a rifle.” The Doctor observed darkly.

“What about the body of the other creature that was killed? How do you factor that into your little theory?” Ace persisted.

“I’ve already said that you could be poachers.” Hill reminded her. “Perhaps Zorrin and his team stumbled upon you after you’d killed that creature?”

“You’re more than welcome to search my TARDIS.” The Doctor offered. “I promise you that you will not find any poaching paraphernalia whatsoever. Now perhaps you’ll allow me to suggest a theory of my own?”

“Go on.” Hill conceded. “This had better be good!”

“I think it’s reasonable to assume that the Bevarans didn’t do this and we know that we didn’t do it.” There was a snort of derision from someone, probably Quentin. “So that can only mean that there is a third party here who is responsible and from what I saw in that footage I think I may know who and what we’re dealing with.”

“And who might that be?” Quentin asked dubiously.

“The Yautja are a race of hunters that hail from a planet in the same galaxy as Earth. They hunt for honour and glory and take trophies from the bodies of those they kill. Usually skulls or skins or something like that. I surmise that this is why the skulls and skins were missing from our victims. They possess camouflage technology that allows them to blend into their surroundings like chameleons. They kill only those that they consider to be a sporting challenge. Professor Zorrin and his team were all armed with laser rifles which made them a viable target. Imagine, Commander, what it will make of you and your marines!” the Doctor explained.

“Are you threatening us, Doctor?” Hill growled menacingly.

“No, the Doctor is right.” Bernice insisted. “I’ve heard of these Yautja too!”

“You’ll make up any old nonsense to save your own skins!” Quentin retorted angrily.

“What if they are telling the truth?” Hill mused. “If you know all about this Yautja, Doctor, then perhaps you’d be willing to help us track it down and kill it!”

“Commander, you and your men will not stand even the slightest chance against it. It would eviscerate your entire contingent of marines before you could even blink!” the Doctor warned her.

“You saw for yourself on that monitor!” Newman agreed. “Zorrin and the others fired on that thing and didn’t hit it even once!”

“With all due respect, Newman; Zorrin and his team of research scientists were not highly trained space marines. I think we’ll do just fine, thank you.” Hill assured him.

“Please reconsider before you go foolishly blundering off into that jungle!” the Doctor protested. “You’ll only get yourselves killed if you do not leave this planet at once!”

“I think the lads and I are more than capable of taking on whatever’s out there, Doctor, but thank you for your touching concern!” Hill sneered.

A chorus of chuckles rippled through the assembled marines around them.

The Doctor shook his head and turned away in frustration.

“Humans!” he muttered to himself in disappointed anger.

Hill was already giving orders to her men.

“Lavery, I want you and three others to go out and retrieve the bodies of Zorrin and his team. Take the long haired girl with you to show you where they are.”

“The name’s Ace!” Ace snapped testily. “Do I get a gun?”

“You’ve already got one.” Hill replied. “Consider yourself lucky that I haven’t confiscated it from you.”

Ace drew her blaster and turned to Lavery and his three comrades.

“Well come on then, what are we waiting for?” she said to them.

The Doctor drew her to one side.

“Be careful, Ace.” He warned her. “You might be better off putting that away!”

Ace nodded her understanding and re-holstered the blaster.

“Understood, Professor.” She replied with a smile.

Ace then left with her entourage of marines.

“And what do we do?” Bernice asked the Doctor.

“You’ll do nothing, but wait here until they get back!” Hill replied for him.

“You let Ace go!” Bernice protested.

“She has four of my men guarding her. I want to keep you two here, right where I can see you!” Hill told her.

And so they waited.

 

Ace led her escort of marines through the jungle. She was looking around her as she went for any sign of this Yautja that the Professor had talked about. Everything looked quiet, but Ace could not shake the feeling that they were being watched.

 

The Predator was tracking the progress of the humans as they trekked through the undergrowth. They were being led by the long haired female who had arrived with the Time Lord. There was something in the way that she carried herself – confident, proud and strong – that suggested to the Predator that she would make a worthy opponent. He would kill her escorts first and leave her for last. He primed his shoulder mounted plasma cannon.

Ace’s party entered the clearing that contained the bodies of Zorrin and his team.

“Here you go!” Ace told them. “I’ll leave you to cut them down, shall I?”

The marines ignored her and set about the task of cutting down the flayed corpses from the trees one by one. Soon they had all four bodies lined up and ready to be transported. They left the cadaver of the Nauvok hanging.

Lavery bent down to secure the body that he was going to carry back to the research vessel. He did not see the three red dots that fell upon him and began to move across his body.

Ace saw them.

“Get down!” she shouted a warning.

Too late!

A burst of blue plasma hurtled out of the trees and burned a messy hole through Lavery’s chest. The marine fell backwards. There was very little blood; the wound had been cauterised by the heat of the plasma.

The remaining marines unshouldered their plasma rifles and began to return fire in the direction the attack had hailed from.

 

The Predator deftly avoided the incoming barrage of plasma fire by leaping several feet into the air and somersaulting across the clearing to land gracefully upon another branch. He instantly targeted another marine and fired. The marine fell dead with a bloody cavity where his stomach had once been.

 

“Fall back!” Ace ordered. Despite her better judgement and the Doctor’s warning she had drawn her blaster and was firing into the trees where the last attack had come from.

The two surviving marines didn’t question Ace’s right to be giving them orders, they just did as they were told, backing out of the clearing whilst laying down covering fire into the trees as they went.

As soon as they were all out of the clearing and concealed by the all-encompassing jungle they ceased firing and turned to run back the way they had come, intent on reaching the safe haven of the ship.

 

The Predator moved quickly through the trees in pursuit of his fleeing quarry. He had taken out his spear and was hefting it, ready to throw it at the earliest opportunity.

 

Ace and the two marines stumbled through the undergrowth as quickly as they were able. The last thing any of them wanted to do was trip up and risk spraining or even breaking an ankle.

A whooshing sound was heard cutting through the air behind them and one of the marines suddenly pitched forward with a long metallic spear protruding from his back.

Ace and the one surviving marine kept running.

They were suddenly brought up short when a transparent, blurry shape landed in front of them. The shape reached out and seized the marine by the throat, lifting him into the air. Ace pointed her blaster at the blurry shape.

“Let him go!” she shouted.

The invisible entity ignored her; the metallic sound of blades being extended was heard, but Ace could see nothing discernible.

The marine wanted to scream in terror, but the tight grip around his neck was blocking his air supply and he could not get the sound out.

Ace continued to point her gun at the blurred shape, but she was hesitant to fire, uncertain of her target.

Suddenly the invisible blades flashed and a horrible rent was opened in the marine’s stomach, shearing through his body armour effortlessly. A bloated, bloody string of intestines spilled from the ragged wound and pooled into a steaming pile at the Predator’s feet.

The Predator allowed his dying victim to fall to the floor and then turned his attention towards Ace.

Before she could react he knocked her blaster flying into the undergrowth with a backhanded blow.

He then casually deactivated his cloaking mechanism and revealed himself to her. Ace stared back into his masked face defiantly.

The Predator reached for an ornate serrated dagger in his belt and held it out to Ace.

She realised that he intended her to take it.

“No way, mate!” she told him. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Fight!” the Predator growled at her, his guttural voice slightly muffled by the mask.

“I get it, you know?” Ace replied, still defiant. “There’s no honour in killing me if I don’t fight back. Which is exactly why I’m not going to.”

The Predator cocked his head to one side and regarded Ace with puzzlement. She was obviously a warrior. Why did she refuse to fight?

Eventually he put away the dagger and reactivated his camouflage unit before melting back into the jungle. If not for the dead, disembowelled marine it was almost as if he had never been there.

Ace breathed a sigh of relief. She waited a few moments, just to be sure that he had really gone, before she resumed her journey back to the ship.

 

A short while later she burst breathlessly into the control room of the research vessel.

“Ace, what happened?” the Doctor asked, jumping out of his seat with concern.

Once she had gotten her breath back Ace told the Doctor and everyone else assembled what had happened to her in the jungle.

“It’s very convenient how you come to be the only survivor!” Commander Hill observed once Ace’s account was finished.

“You think I killed your soldier boys?” Ace riled on the Commander angrily.

“Why not?” Hill replied. “You certainly look capable.”

“Me, on my own against four marines? I was out numbered and out gunned. There’s no way I could have killed them!” Ace protested.

“I don’t know.” The Doctor mused. “There was that one time you took on a whole platoon of Cybermen armed only with a slingshot and a bag of gold coins!”

“Not helping, Professor!” Ace snarled, but instantly regretted her outburst. The Doctor was right. If she’d wanted to she could have killed all four of those marines without breaking a sweat, but it wouldn’t help her situation for Commander Hill to know that!

“Look, I’ll take you to the bodies. You can see for yourself that I didn’t do it!” she said to the Commander.

“Alright, but this time we all go together.” Hill agreed. “Newman and Quentin can stay here of course, but the rest of you are coming with us.”

 

Ace led Commander Hill and her marines, along with the Doctor and Bernice, back through the jungle to the area where she had faced the Predator one on one. She knew she had found the right spot when she found a pool of blood on the ground where the intestines of the disembowelled marine had fallen. However, there was no sign of the intestines or the body at all!

Ace searched desperately in the surrounding bushes, but all she managed to find was her blaster where it had fallen after having been knocked out of her hands earlier. She returned the weapon to its holster as she met Commander Hill’s accusing stare.

“Where are these bodies then?” the Commander demanded.

“They were right here!” Ace insisted. “The Yautja must have come back and taken them away. They collect trophies, remember?”

“Take us to where Zorrin and his team were killed!” Hill ordered.

Ace obligingly led them further into the jungle to the clearing where the skinned bodies had been left behind.

The bodies were gone from here too.

Commander Hill un-holstered her blaster and pointed it at Ace’s head.

“Where have you hidden the bodies?” she demanded.

“I haven’t hidden them anywhere!” Ace persisted. “Gordon Bennett, why are you so thick?”

“I’ve had enough of this!” Commander Hill snarled angrily. “It’s clear to me that you people are the murderers! I am well within my rights to have you all executed immediately!”

All of a sudden the Doctor, Ace and Bernice found themselves surrounded by eight gun barrels, all pointed at them.

“When I give the order you will all open fire!” Hill declared.   


	3. Part Three

The order never came. Hill fell backwards, her chest exploding in a shower of blood as she was hit by a devastating plasma blast from the surrounding trees.

The marines forgot all about the Doctor and his companions and turned their weapons in the direction the attack had hailed from. They fired wildly in a vain hope to hit their unseen assailant.

“Run!” Ace shouted and before waiting to see who was with her she took off into the jungle.

“Ace, come back!” the Doctor called after her, but she was already gone.

Another marine fell dead beside him, cut down by the plasma thrower. This only inspired more wild firing from his surviving comrades.

“Stop firing!” the Doctor shouted in his loudest and most authoritive voice.

The marines found themselves obeying.

“Good.” The Doctor said with some satisfaction. “We need to get back to the ship. Fall back quickly and it is very important that you do not fire your weapons, is that understood?”

The marines conveyed their understanding and the retreat to the research ship began.

 

The Predator watched them go. It was not his intent to pursue them this time. He did not want to kill them all just yet; not if he wanted this hunt to last.

In fact the only reason he had attacked this time was to prevent the execution of the Time Lord and his female companions. He wanted the pleasure of killing them for himself.

The long haired female had run off into the jungle on her own. He would go after her soon enough.

 

Ace stopped running when she realised that she wasn’t being pursued and that no one else was with her. She also realised very quickly that she was lost and alone in a jungle that was teeming with hostile predators, not to mention the blood thirsty Yautja. All she had was her blaster and a few cans of Nitro-9 in her rucksack. Ace hoped that this would be enough, but it wouldn’t hurt to find more weapons, she thought. For now she kept moving.

 

The Doctor, Bernice and the surviving marines had managed to make it back to the research ship safely. Quentin and Newman had been surprised to see them return without Commander Hill.

The Doctor explained to them what had happened and this time his story was corroborated by the marines.

“It seems we owe you an apology, Doctor.” Newman said when the Doctor had finished.

“What makes you so sure?” Quentin snorted, still doubtful even now.

“You can’t still think they’re guilty after everything they’ve just told us?” Newman spluttered incredulously.

“They were fired upon by someone with a plasma cannon concealed in the bushes!” Quentin reminded him. “Who’s to say that they didn’t plant it there? An automated turret that they activated surreptitiously via some sort of remote controlled device. It’s very convenient how the attack happened just as the Commander was about to execute the Doctor and his friends. They may even have a fourth accomplice out there that we haven’t found yet!”

“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you, Quentin!” Newman shook his head in exasperation.

“All this arguing and wild speculation is pointless!” the Doctor stepped in. “The Yautja is still out there and so is my friend Ace. If we are to rescue her then we need to work together!”

Quentin mulled over the Doctor’s words quietly. The Doctor had one of his friends out there too now. But what if that was all part of whatever murderous scheme they were planning? Newman and the marines, however, now seemed to trust the strangers implicitly. What choice did he have?

“Alright, Doctor.” Quentin said eventually. “It seems I have no choice, but to trust you.”

“Good man.” The Doctor smiled and offered his hand, which Quentin shook. “I promise you won’t regret it!”

 

Ace had been walking alone through the jungle for what seemed like hours. She noticed that the rough, earthy ground that she had trodden on was now becoming a bit rocky. Ace emerged out of the undergrowth to find herself on the edge of a large pool of water that ran into a cave opening in the mountain that she hadn’t seen before thanks to all the trees that blocked the sight of anything above the canopy. Ace heard the sound of footsteps echoing from inside the cave. She ducked back into the jungle and waited to see who would emerge.

Moments later the Yautja stepped out into the open. It carried its spear and it was not wearing its mask.

Ace stared in fascination at every disgusting detail of the Yautja’s unmasked visage; the four tusked mandibles that surrounded its saw-toothed mouth, the small yellow eyes and the enlarged forehead with its array of tendril like dreadlocks.

It was starting to get dark and there was very little sunlight to see by now. The Yautja was poised at the edge of the fast flowing pool with its spear raised. Suddenly it lunged quicker than Ace’s eyes could follow and when the spear came up again there was a weird looking alien fish wriggling on the end of it. The Yautja pulled the fish off the spear and proceeded to eat it raw, the live fish continuing to writhe frantically as is was being consumed.

Ace was a little disgusted by this display, but at the same time she felt her own hunger begin to gnaw at her and she found herself wishing that she had a fish of her own.

It seemed that the Yautja was preparing to retire for the night. After it had finished eating it returned to the cave.

Ace decided that she should probably do the same. She found herself a little spot nestled under a tree concealed by heavy bushes and tried to settle down for some sleep.

 

Everyone on board the research vessel was also trying to get some rest. Bernice and the Doctor sat in a corner of the control room on their own, away from everyone else.

“I don’t like this waiting, Doctor.” Bernice was saying. “We should be out there right now, looking for Ace!”

The Doctor got up and crossed to the food synthesiser, ordering his seventh cup of tea.

“It wouldn’t be wise to be blundering about in that jungle in the dark.” The Doctor answered her as he returned, blowing on the tea. “Ace can look after herself for now. She’s a big girl! She’s probably found somewhere safe to sleep for the night. We’ll go out and look for her in the morning.”

“Do you think the Bevarans would give her shelter if she ran into them?” Bernice wondered.

“It’s possible.” The Doctor conceded. “If they’re as peaceful as we’ve been told then the Yautja would probably leave them alone.”

He sipped his tea thoughtfully then looked at Bernice.

“I’m sorry, did you want one?” he asked.

Bernice shook her head and the Doctor resumed his musings.

“I think it’s only one Yautja we’re dealing with.” He said. “At least I hope it is, though one is bad enough! If we can convince it that we don’t want to fight then maybe it will give up and leave us alone?”

“Just because those are the rules of his culture doesn’t mean he has to adhere to them.” Bernice pointed out. “He might not care if we want to fight back or not!”

“His behaviour so far suggests to me that he is following the traditions of his people. The question is how far will he be willing to stick to them?” the Doctor wondered. “Why don’t you try and get some sleep? You’ll need all of your strength for tomorrow.”

Bernice nodded wearily and she curled her feet beneath her in the chair she was sat in, laying her head upon the console in front of her.

The Doctor took off his frock coat and bundled it up, placing it under Bernice’s head so that she could use it as a pillow.

She smiled her thanks and in a matter of moments was soon fast asleep.

 

The purple sun of Bevara VI crept into the air like a giant purple bodied spider and the first rays of sunshine touched Ace’s sleeping face like a gentle caress, waking her up. As her eyes fluttered open she felt something other than sunshine crawling up the left side of her cheek. Ace batted whatever it was away and saw a tiny yellow and black lizard fall to the floor. It righted itself upon its six feet and scuttled away into the undergrowth.

Ace hurriedly scrambled to her feet and remembered suddenly how close she was to the Yautja’s lair. She wanted to get in there if she could to steal some of its weapons, but first she needed to find something to eat!

 

The Predator was having fish for breakfast. Today he was planning to hunt the human female. He hoped that she was still lost in the jungle. After he had eaten he began to sharpen his wrist blades.

 

The Doctor had called a meeting in the control room. Quentin was the only one who seemed unhappy about the Time Lord being in charge, but since he was in the minority there was not an awful lot that he could do about it. He sat sulkily in one corner, tucking into his usual second helping of bacon and eggs from the synthesiser.

The Doctor was explaining to the marines how not fighting might be their best chance at discouraging the Yautja from coming after them.

“That thing has killed several of our people!” Quentin protested. “We can’t just let it get away with that!”

“If we try fighting it then there is every chance that we will all be killed!” the Doctor argued.

“At least we would die fighting and we wouldn’t just be walking away like cowards!” Quentin shouted back.

There was a murmur of agreement from the assembled marines. It seemed that Quentin had a popular opinion for a change.

“Alright, alright!” the Doctor called over the mumble of voices. “If you are going to insist on getting yourselves killed then the least I can do is try to help keep you alive for as long as possible!”

 

Ace had observed some local animals that looked like a cross between toucans and marmosets eating fruit in the trees. From this she had deduced that this fruit must be safe to eat and so she had proceeded to climb the nearest tree to pick some of the fruit for herself.

The Toucasets, as she called them, were rather possessive of their fruit and began to pelt her with seeds as hard as pebbles when they realised she was after some of it. Ace managed to grab two of the succulent, fleshy fruits before losing her grip and falling from the tree into the leaf mulch below, which thankfully broke her fall. Bruised, but otherwise intact, Ace sat down and munched greedily on the sweet, delicious fruit which tasted something like honey mixed with banana and nutmeg.

After breakfast she returned to watching the exterior of the Yautja’s lair. She saw it come out, this time wearing its mask and once again carrying its spear. The plasma thrower was mounted on its shoulder and the blades on its wrists gleamed wickedly in the sunlight.

Ace watched him disappear into the jungle… away from her. She waited a few moments longer just to be sure he was gone then she emerged carefully and made her way quickly and quietly over to the cave.

She could see nothing in there. No evidence of the creature’s living habits at all.

Then purely by chance she stubbed her foot on something that wasn’t there. Ace cursed her clumsiness and held her hands before her like a Parisian mime. She realised that there was a cloaked space ship parked right in front of her and she began to feel around carefully for some way to get inside. After about five minutes of this she was prepared to give up when suddenly she found herself pressing on nothing and she fell forwards into the Yautja’s ship.

Looking around her the first thing she spied was the Yautja’s trophy rack, adorned with the skulls and pelts of creatures that it had killed. Some of them were clearly human. She also found a metal box which, upon opening, she found to contain what could only be a medical first aid kit along with some implements that looked like they might be used to polish skulls!

Then Ace smiled as she finally found what she had been looking for… weapons! There was a spear not unlike the one that the Yautja had left with, a selection of razor-wired nets, wickedly sharp throwing discs and a long knife similar to the one that the creature had tried to give her the day before.

Ace took the knife, the spear, two nets and a disc. The disc and the nets went into her rucksack, while the knife she stuck down her belt. The spear she kept in her hand.

Now she felt ready to take on the Yautja. Maybe.

Ace left the ship and returned to the jungle.

 

Back at the research ship a plan of action was being drawn together.

“Our main priority will be to find Ace.” The Doctor was saying.

“What’s the point?” Quentin sneered. “She’s probably already dead!”

“You don’t know Ace like I do.” The Doctor replied evenly.

“And what makes her so special?” Quentin retorted.

“I’ve already mentioned what she accomplished against a group of Cybermen with a slingshot and some gold coins!” the Doctor reminded him. “But did I also mention that she took on a Dalek, armed only with a baseball bat on one occasion? She also spent three years fighting the Daleks in the Marine Corps. Should I continue?”

“Alright, alright! You’ve convinced me!” Quentin replied. “That would be all well and good if it were Daleks and Cybermen that we were up against!”

“I have every faith in Ace’s ability regardless of what she is up against.” The Doctor told him. “Now, I suggest that we split up into two search parties. Bernice, I want you and Quentin to take three of the marines and search the eastern sector. Newman and I will take the other three and search in the west. Any questions?”

There were none.

“Excellent!” the Doctor beamed. “Let’s get to it then!”

 

Ace was creeping stealthily through the jungle. Her blaster was drawn in one hand whilst she hefted the Yautja’s spear in the other.

She was blissfully unaware that the Yautja had already found her and that she was just passing beneath the tree in which he was hidden.

The Predator was surprised to see that she carried one of his weapons. Somehow she must have found his ship, he deduced. It was his intent to challenge her in single combat, and that meant that the blaster would have to go…

Ace saw the three dots of light on her wrist that belonged to the hand that was carrying her blaster. She turned instantly and fired into the trees where the dots were originating from. In response a pulse of blue plasma flew out and smashed the gun out of her hand before she could fire again.

Ace immediately bent to pick the gun up again, but the weapon had been reduced to a twisted, molten heap of slag that would never be used as a gun ever again.

Something dropped from the tree and landed in front of her and Ace looked up to see the uncloaked Yautja warrior standing over her in all his glory.

“You cannot deny me battle now, human!” he declared.

Ace decided that attack first, ask questions later was the best plan of action. She lunged with the spear tip, aiming for the Yautja’s chest, but he raised his own spear and deflected her attack with very little effort at all. He followed through by swinging the butt of his spear round low and sweeping Ace’s legs out from under her. She fell heavily on her back, the breath knocked out of her.

This is it, she thought, I’m dead! She closed her eyes and waited for the death blow.

Long moments passed, but the blow did not come and Ace opened her eyes again to see the Yautja standing back, waiting patiently for her to get up again.

Ace gingerly clambered to her feet and immediately lunged at the Yautja again, this time aiming for his head.

Again the creature knocked her spear aside and then sent her flying backwards once more with a back hand blow, opening a bloody cut on her cheek with his wrist blades.

And again the Yautja waited for her to get up.

This time Ace circled her opponent cautiously as she thought about her next move.

She unslung her rucksack and reached inside.

The Predator regarded her with curiosity, wondering what she would produce.

He wasn’t expecting it to be one of his own razor-wired nets! Ace whipped it out quickly and flung it over the Yautja’s head. The Predator found himself entangled and pinned against the tree behind him, the deadly mesh cutting green bloodied lines into his flesh.

Ace took her chance and fled into the jungle.

The Predator shouted a blood curdling roar of anger and pain as he cut himself free of the net using his wrist blades. Once he was loose he gave chase.

Ace sprinted through the undergrowth as quickly as she could, keeping a tight hold of her weapons. She could hear the Yautja’s furious pursuit behind her.

Then suddenly a pair of hands shot out of the bushes to her left and grabbed her, dragging her into the undergrowth!


	4. Part Four

Ace swung her fist wildly and punched her assailant hard on the jaw. The figure fell like a stone, immediately unconscious. Surprised at how easily her attacker had gone down, Ace bent over to examine the prone form at her feet. As she did so she heard the rustling of the Yautja as he ran passed her place of concealment and off somewhere that was happily far away from her.

The figure she had felled could only be one of the Bevarans. It wasn’t very tall and resembled a red furred chimpanzee wearing a loin cloth about its middle made from some unidentified animal hide. The hands, feet and mouth were hairless and the skin had a dark brown pigment like pure chocolate.

Ace shook the Bevaran’s shoulder in an attempt to arouse it – him, she decided, as she accidentally caught a glimpse beneath his loin cloth.

His eyes opened and he uttered a low simian groan of pain. On seeing Ace he leapt to his feet and backed away from her, holding his hands out to keep her at bay.

“Keep back, fierce creature!” the Bevaran gibbered fearfully. “Do not strike me again!”

“It’s alright!” Ace assured him placatingly. “I won’t hurt you. Again. I thought you might have been that thing before.”

The Bevaran calmed down, lowered his defensive posture and smiled tentatively.

“You will not hurt Shidonei?” he asked.

“Shidonei?” Ace said. “Is that your name? I’m Ace. Thank you for saving me. I am sorry for hitting you!” She smiled sheepishly.

“Shidonei is forgiving, Ace. I understand why you did it.” Shidonei assured her.

“Well I am very pleased to see a friendly face again.” Ace replied. She offered the Bevaran her hand to shake and Shidonei accepted uncertainly, frowning slightly at the unfamiliar gesture.

Ace shook his hand then quickly released it again at the look on Shidonei’s face, realising that she may have been squeezing a touch too hard.

Shidonei waved his hand about in an effort to dispel the momentary discomfort and Ace couldn’t help but chuckle at the funny little Bevaran. Pleasingly Shidonei shared her merriment and joined in. The laughter was pleasant and comforting after all that she had endured so far.

When their amusement had passed Shidonei beckoned for Ace to follow him.

“Come with me!” he said simply.

Ace picked up her spear and followed her new little friend.

 

The Predator realised quickly that he had lost Ace again. He ceased his blind pursuit and let out an angry roar of frustration where he stood.

The roar was heard by the Doctor and Newman some distance away as they continued their own search for Ace.

“Is that the Yautja?” Newman asked.

“Yes.” The Doctor answered with a grin. “I can think of only one person that can frustrate someone enough to provoke that sort of response!”

“Ace?” Newman guessed.

“Exactly!” the Doctor replied ecstatically.

 

Bernice and Quentin had also heard the Yautja’s angry outburst.

“That sounds far too close for my liking!” Bernice frowned, tightening her grip on her blaster.

Quentin checked his bio-scanner.

“Erm… I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…” he was shaking as the words left his mouth.

“It is close, isn’t it?” Bernice said.

“And heading this way!” Quentin nodded.

Bernice thought quickly.

“No, that’s good! That’s good!” she decided. “Let it come to us! We’ll just lie in wait and ambush it for a change. It won’t be expecting that!”

They all took up positions hiding in the undergrowth in any cover that they could find.

Quentin kept an eye on his bio-scanner, monitoring the Yautja’s approach. It was getting closer by the second. Quentin readied his laser rifle. He realised too late that the Yautja had already arrived.

It was behind him.

The twin blades of its wrist knives erupted from his chest, cleaving through his heart and killing him instantly.

Bernice and the marines were unaware of Quentin’s fate and waited patiently for a target.

Something burst out of the undergrowth and they all opened fire as one – laser beams and plasma bolts shredded into the figure that emerged and reduced it to a bloody mess. Too late they realised that it was Quentin’s corpse that they were laying waste too and they ceased firing abruptly. The Yautja had used his cadaver as a decoy.

Suddenly the Yautja’s deadly disc spun out of the jungle and flitted from one hiding place to another, slashing open the throats of the three hidden marines in quick succession before returning to its owner.

Bernice had watched the whole massacre unfold with horror and now sank as low as she could in her hiding place, praying that the Yautja wouldn’t find her.

The Predator stepped out into the open and looked around him for other targets.

Bernice swore as she saw the creature’s yellow eyes settle upon her hiding place. On a count of three she rose from the bushes and fired her blaster at the Yautja. There was just one problem.

He was no longer there.

A blow from behind smashed Bernice to the forest floor and everything went black.

 

The Doctor and Newman entered this scene of carnage a short while later to find the bodies of Quentin and the three marines suspended before them, the skins and heads all removed and taken.

Bernice’s blaster also lay abandoned among the leaf litter, but there was no sign of her.

The Doctor took comfort from this. Perhaps she was still alive.

“Why would the Yautja leave these bodies here for us to find, but take your friend’s?” Newman wondered.

“I don’t think Bernice is dead, Newman.” The Doctor replied.

“Why not?” Newman asked. “What possible reason could it have for keeping her alive?”

“I can think of only one.” The Doctor answered grimly. “Bait!”

 

Ace and Shidonei had arrived at the Bevaran village. The young time traveller looked around in wonder at the scattered huts woven out of wood and vines and other natural materials harvested from the jungle. Other Bevarans went about their business and adorable little Bevaran children scampered and played like the impish apes that they resembled.

Many of the villagers gathered around Shidonei and his new friend as they entered the village, regarding Ace with open curiosity.

The crowd parted and a taller Bevaran than any that Ace had seen up to now made his way through them and towards her, his arms open and his face smiling in greeting.

“Welcome box-dweller to our village!” he chirruped cheerfully. “I am Denonei, the chief of this tribe.”

Box-dweller? Ace found the term puzzling, but then realised that maybe the Bevarans had observed her arrival with the Doctor and Benny in the TARDIS.

“Thank you for your welcome, Chief Denonei!” she smiled and bowed humbly. “I would be grateful if you could provide me with sanctuary and shelter. At least for a little while.”

“You are welcome here for as long as you wish to stay!” Denonei insisted.

He summoned a couple of Bevaran females who smilingly led Ace away to a nearby hut. There the cut on her cheek was tended to with some sort of healing ointment and then she was fed a great feast of fruits and other Bevaran delicacies.

After her appetite had been sated the Bevarans left her alone to sleep and rest.

Ace allowed herself to drift off peacefully. She was safe, for now.

 

Bernice woke up to find herself bound hand and foot with some sort of inflexible wire and lying on the cold floor of what could only be the Yautja’s space ship. She caught sight of her captor sat over in his pilot’s seat. He turned when he heard her struggling against her bonds and she saw with disgust that he wasn’t wearing his mask.

“Please!” Bernice begged. “Put your mask back on! You look much better with it, believe me!”

The Yautja ignored her and reached for something in the metal container beside him. He pulled out a dead fish and held it towards her.

“Eat!” he told her.

“No thanks!” Bernice replied, wrinkling her nose up distastefully. “I don’t like sushi!”

The Yautja shrugged his great shoulders as if to say ‘suit yourself’ and proceeded to devour the fish himself instead.

After he had finished his little snack he rose from his chair and strode over to where Bernice lay. He reached out one of his huge hands and Bernice recoiled as far as she could, unsure of what the Yautja intended. His fingers closed around the slender golden Care Bears necklace (picked up during their last visit to 20th Century Earth) that she wore and he tore it away from her neck, snapping the tiny gold links like silk.

“Give that back!” Bernice snarled angrily. “It wouldn’t suit you anyway!”

The Yautja ignored her and walked away, exiting the ship and leaving her bound alone.

 

When Ace awoke from her little ‘nap’ she saw that night had fallen outside once more. She got up from her bed and crossed to the entrance of the hut. Outside she saw Shidonei and his chief. They instantly came over to greet her when they saw that she was up.

“I trust you have rested well, box-dweller?” Denonei asked.

“Yes thanks, and please, call me Ace! That’s my name!” she told him with a smile.

“We have been preparing some entertainment for you.” Denonei told her. “Come! You are guest of honour!”

He and Shidonei led her into the centre of the village where a great bonfire had been built. A large comfortable looking wooden throne sat overlooking the fire and the village centre in general; there was another smaller, but no less comfortable looking throne next to it.

Denonei sat in the large throne and indicated that Ace should sit in the other one next to him.

Ace sank into the comfy fur lined chair obligingly.

Once she was comfortable Denonei clapped his hands.

“We are ready to begin!” he announced.

A group of Bevarans, male and female, bounded in from all directions, dancing and cartwheeling and singing around the fire in some bizarre local ritualistic ceremony. Ace sank down even lower into her chair and settled down to enjoy the show.

 

The Doctor and Newman had returned to the research vessel before night fall with a mutual vow to resume their search for both Ace and Bernice at first light the following day.

The three surviving marines were taking the opportunity to get some sleep.

The Doctor sat in the control room with his head and his hands propped upon the handle of his umbrella. Newman was sat next to him sipping a cup of coffee.

“I know that you’re worried about your friends, but you should really try and get some sleep, Doctor.” Newman said gently.

“Ace is fine!” the Doctor asserted. “It’s Benny that I am worried about!”

“If it’s using her for bait like you suggest then she should be alright for now.” Newman tried to reassure him.

“Yes, for now!” the Doctor agreed grimly.

 

The dancing Bevarans had finished and had been replaced by lone, naked male Bevaran who cavorted around the bonfire, his astonishing tackle swinging pendulously from side to side as he juggled seven balls of fur.

Ace hadn’t been too impressed by the dancing, she had seen better moves performed by drunks on the dance floor at a disco, but she had applauded and cheered politely when the performance had ended. This latest act was oddly captivating, most probably due to the ever present and ever swaying genitalia. The balls of fur squeaked every time that the Bevaran caught one of them and Ace realised that whatever those balls were, they were alive!

The juggler ended his act by catching each of the living fur balls into his mouth until his cheeks were puffed up like a hamster’s and then he swallowed them all, performing a little ‘Ta-da’ pose when the last one had gone down.

Ace offered more polite applause and prayed that this was the final act.

She got her wish in a most unexpected fashion. Something thudded into the back of her chair just inches away from her head. All merriment ceased and a great hush descended upon the village.

Ace examined the object embedded into the back of her chair. It was some sort of serrated dart and there was a gold chain wrapped around it. Upon closer inspection Ace realised that it was a Care Bears necklace. Bernice’s Care Bears necklace.

 

The Doctor and Newman set out early the next morning to recommence their search for Ace and Bernice.

Elsewhere the Predator finished tying Bernice to a rock in full view outside the entrance of his cave.

Now all he had to do was wait for the long haired female to come.

 

At the Bevaran village Ace was fully kitted up and prepared to head off and confront the Yautja.

She had her Nitro-9, the spear, the knife, one more net and the disc. The Bevarans had been trying to convince her not to go ever since the incident with the dart at the bonfire ceremony the previous night. Eventually they had relented when they saw how determined she was.

Chief Denonei had insisted that Shidonei go with her though.

Reluctantly Ace had agreed.

And so off they went to meet the Predator.

 

The Predator stood outside his cave without his mask. He had his spear in one hand and a knife in the other and his wrist blades had been sharpened to bone splitting perfection. His shoulder mounted cannon had been removed and left in the space ship. There would be no shooting in this fight. He waited for Ace to come!

 

The Doctor and Newman had stumbled upon the landing site of the TARDIS during their search for the two women.

“Ah, hello, old girl!” the Doctor greeted his ship warmly. “Well, now that we’re here we might as well make use of her.” He took out his key and unlocked the door.

“This is your ship?” Newman asked dubiously.

“This is the TARDIS, yes!” the Doctor replied. “Is there something wrong with that?”

 

“No, not at all!” Newman assured him hastily.

The Doctor stood aside to let Newman enter.

“We can use the tracking systems in the TARDIS to find Ace and Benny!” the Doctor explained as he followed the scientist inside and beckoned the marines to follow him. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before!”

The doors closed behind them and a few seconds later a howling and grinding noise split the air and the TARDIS faded away.

 

Ace found the Yautja’s cave again easily enough. She and Shidonei observed her opponent discreetly from the cover of the jungle. Bernice was tied to a rock in front of the cave entrance and the Yautja stood nearby with his back to her.

Ace bent low to whisper in Shidonei’s ear.

“While I’m fighting him I want you to sneak around, using the jungle for cover, and untie Benny. Do you think you can do that for me?” she asked.

“Consider it done, Ace!” Shidonei assured her.

Ace straightened and steeled herself for the upcoming confrontation.

“Good luck!” Shidonei said.

Ace nodded and took out the flying disc from her rucksack. She thought that she had figured out how it worked the night before. Now it was time to find out.

Ace activated the disc and threw it at the Yautja.

The disc spun out of the undergrowth in a straight line towards the Yautja’s head.

The Predator regarded its approach calmly and raised his hand at the last second to catch it in mid-air. He then threw it right back where it had come from… back at Ace!

Ace leapt aside and the disc embedded itself into the wood of the tree behind her.

There was nothing for it now. She would have to fight him close quarters.

Ace stepped out of the jungle, her spear raised in challenge.

The Predator’s mandibles twisted into a smile and he raised his weapons in greeting… meeting her challenge.

Then he threw back his head and roared before charging forward into battle!


	5. Part Five

Ace somehow managed to parry the Yautja’s first blow with her spear, but the sheer brute strength of the Predator almost brought her to her knees. She immediately followed through with an attack of her own. Ace succeeded in clearing the Yautja’s defence and she smiled grimly as her blade sliced off one of his mandibles.

The Yautja winced at the pain of this minor injury, but then Ace swung again, this time reversing the spear and slamming the butt as hard as she could into his stomach. This attack had very little effect at all and the Yautja retaliated with his knife.

Ace leapt back out of its reach, but still got caught on her hip, the blade slicing through her t-shirt and flesh alike, quickly turning the white fabric red. She gritted her teeth through the pain and tried to ignore the flow of blood as she upended her spear and brought it down on the Yautja’s knife hand, impaling it in a gout of green blood and causing him to drop the weapon.

The Predator emitted a roar of pain and anger and swiped his injured hand in a back handed blow that knocked Ace to the ground. This time it was his turn to bring his spear down, but Ace, though her head was spinning from the blow, managed to roll out of the way and the spear tip struck rock. The Predator roared his frustration again and pressed home his attack.

As the battle raged on Shidonei was making his way to untie Bernice.

Benny was surprised to see the red furred ape-man emerge from the undergrowth and begin to work on her bindings. Never look a gift horse, or ape, in the mouth though, she thought.

Meanwhile the fight continued. Ace was parrying blow after blow from the Yautja’s determined assault and not really getting much chance to make any more attacks of her own.

It was when the Predator stepped to near to the edge of the pool that Ace saw a chance. She brought the spear up with all her strength and succeeded in knocking the Yautja off balance and into the water. He disappeared beneath the surface and did not come back up again. Surely it couldn’t be over that easily, Ace thought to herself.

Cautiously she stepped closer to the edge of the pool and peered into the murky depths to try and catch sight of her enemy.

The pool exploded in a shower of water as the Yautja burst forth and grabbed Ace by the throat.

He stepped out onto the rocks and held Ace aloft before him. She was choking and turning blue in the face as he looked into her eyes.

Just as she thought she might be choked to death the Yautja threw her to the ground and extended his wrist blades.

And then a howling and grinding noise filled the air.

The Yautja looked around him and saw the blue shape of the Time Lord’s TARDIS begin to materialise within the mouth of the cave. Once it had solidified the door opened and Newman sprang out with a laser rifle, blazing away at the Predator.

It was a clumsy attack which the Yautja was able to avoid effortlessly by leaping out of the way before any of the deadly beams even reached him.

“Quickly, into the TARDIS!” Newman instructed.

Ace, Bernice and Shidonei did not need a second invitation and they quickly followed the scientist into the sanctuary of the blue box.

The Predator wasn’t about to let them get away that easily. He activated his camouflage mechanism and darted through the open door before it could be closed on him. On entering he backed against the far wall and blended in as best he could to remain undetected for as long as possible.

He watched the Time Lord working at the console. Saw the column in the centre rise and fall as they took flight.

The two females embraced the Time Lord, clearly happy to see him.

“Talk about the nick of time!” the long haired female grinned.

“How did you find us?” the short haired female asked.

The Time Lord launched into a lengthy and long winded explanation while the scientist human attempted to explain to the primitive Bevaran the trans-dimensional nature of the TARDIS interior.

“I hope that’s the last we’ve seen of our Yautja friend!” the Time Lord remarked as his lengthy explanation came to an end.

The Predator decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to reveal himself. He deactivated his cloaking mechanism and thrust the tip of his spear forward, impaling the nearest marine through the stomach. Another marine made to attack him and had his throat ripped out by the Yautja’s wrist blades for his trouble. Blood sprayed across the TARDIS walls, turning the stark bleached white to a deep scarlet.

“Run!” the Doctor shouted.

The survivors made their way out of the control room’s inner door that would take them deep into the labyrinthine corridors of the TARDIS beyond.

Ace took care to slam the door shut behind her.

“Split up!” the Doctor instructed. “This is my TARDIS. He’ll have to hunt us on my terms now!”

They divided into three groups, each one taking a different corridor.

Ace and Shidonei went left.

Bernice and the sole surviving marine went right.

The Doctor and Newman went straight ahead.

 

The Predator tore the spinal column from the second marine he had killed, leaving the skull still attached, and perched it upon the console next to its neighbour. He noted that the column in the centre had ceased its rising and falling motion. They had landed again.

The Predator was in no hurry to leave just yet though. He exited the control room via the inner door.

Straight away he saw that there were three options ahead of him of where he could go.

He chose to go right.

 

Ace and Shidonei had reached the garden nursery. It was a veritable haven for all sorts of plants and shrubs from a wide variety of exotic alien locations. As they passed through they had to be careful to steer clear of one particularly large carnivorous plant that resembled a giant Venus fly trap.

Ace remembered the Doctor telling her once about the time when he had tricked a pursuing Sontaran into the jaws of that same plant. She doubted that the same trick would work on their Yautja friend.

 

The Doctor and Newman had reached the TARDIS laboratory.

“Ah, yes!” the Doctor enthused. “This is exactly what we need! There’s bound to be something in here that we could use to incapacitate our friend out there!”

He began to root around enthusiastically through all his equipment.

“I’m all in favour for finding something to help us fight that thing, but what if he catches up with us before you can find something?” Newman fretted.

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that!” the Doctor replied absently without looking around. “I’ve locked the door behind us! He won’t be able to get in!”

“Right!” Newman responded dubiously. “I see.”

The Doctor continued his search.

 

Meanwhile Bernice and her marine friend, whose name, she had learned, was Stephen Murphy, had reached the Cloister room and were resting on a stone bench against an ivy covered wall.

“We shouldn’t rest for long.” Bernice was saying. “The Yautja could be right behind us!”

“I wouldn’t worry about that!” Murphy said in his broad Irish lilt. “This place is like a maze! I doubt that he’d be able to find us!”

“You’re pretty laid back for someone who has seen all of his mates get slaughtered by an unstoppable alien big game hunter!” Bernice observed.

“On the outside maybe, but inside I’m quaking in me boots, believe you me!” Murphy admitted. “But it’s not going to do either of us any good if I devolve into a quivering, blubbering wreck, is it?”

Bernice couldn’t help but chuckle at this.

“Do you have any plans if we make it out of this in one piece?” she asked him.

“If we get out of this alive then I’m thinking this is going to be my last tour of duty!” Murphy confided. “I’m going to open up a little training academy to instruct rookie marines in unstoppable alien big game hunter warfare! It’s not something that was covered in the regular academy so I think I’ve found my niche, if you catch what I’m saying?” he offered a conspiratorial wink.

“Good luck with that!” Bernice grinned, feeling herself being cheered by this marine’s happy go lucky nature, even in the face of such overwhelming adversity. Perhaps she’d give him a little leaving present before they parted company; she was sure they could find a nice secluded broom cupboard somewhere!

Her smile rapidly vanished as a blurred shape detached itself from a clump of ivy over in one corner of the Cloister room and rather too late the Cloister bell began to sound a death knell!

“Get out of here, Benny!” Murphy urged her as he unslung his plasma rifle. “I’ll hold it off for as long as I can!”

“Don’t be a fool!” she protested. “It will kill you!”

The Predator was striding ever closer; he didn’t seem in any particular hurry to reach them.

“We’ll both be killed if you don’t go now!” Murphy argued. “Just run!”

He fired his rifle, but it was difficult to get a bead on a target that was practically invisible and the plasma burst went wide.

Bernice ran and she didn’t look back. She didn’t want to see what happened next.

As she turned the corner she heard Murphy’s dying scream and a single tear tracked down her cheek.

 

Ace and Shidonei now found themselves in the room where the Doctor kept his swimming pool.

They had both plonked down in deck chairs beside the pool, feeling that a rest was in order.

“There is something I have been meaning to ask you, Ace!” Shidonei piped up once they had caught their breath.

Gordon Bennett, Ace thought to herself, I hope he’s not thinking of asking me out!

Aloud she said; “What is it, Shidonei?”

“I was wondering how you are able to speak Bevaran language so well? Have you been studying us without our knowing it?” he asked her.

Ace could barely keep in her sigh of relief.

“The Professor explained to me once that the TARDIS, that’s this blue box that we’re in, shares a telepathic gift with those who travel in her and enables them to understand and speak the language of whatever peoples they encounter on their travels.” She tried to explain.

“So this TARDIS, she is a goddess?” Shidonei wondered.

“I don’t think she’s that far from it!” Ace confided with a smile.

Bernice suddenly burst into the pool room, her face tracked with tears from crying.

“Benny, are you alright?” Ace got up and embraced her friend consolingly.

“Murphy’s dead!” Bernice sobbed into her shoulder.

Ace guessed that this was the last of the marines. Now they were all dead.

“I’m sorry, Benny.” She said, patting her friend’s back ineffectually.

In the back of her mind she realised that the Yautja would be heading this way.

 

“Ah hah! Yes that should do the trick nicely!” the Doctor exclaimed; he was brandishing some sort of metal rod that he had just found under one of the workbenches with a flourish.

“What is it?” Newman wondered sceptically.

The Doctor was already unlocking the laboratory door.

“No time to explain now!” he replied. “I’ll fill you in on the way. Come on!”

And then he was out the door before Newman could say anything more.

The scientist went after him.

 

Bernice and Shidonei were hiding behind a column in the pool room whilst Ace stood out in the open, waiting for the Yautja to come.

She had decided that it was time to make a stand and try and do something about the Predator once and for all. Bernice had promised Ace that she would not interfere or try to shoot the Yautja with her blaster. It would only make her a target and get her killed all the more quickly. Ace’s only hope was to try and finally overcome the hunter in single combat. She did not fancy her chances, but she had to try.

The blurred, transparent figure of the Yautja entered the pool room. He deactivated his camouflage mechanism and in the blink of an eye he stood before Ace in all his impressive and imposing glory.

Bernice looked away and tried not to be sick when she saw what had to be the skull and spinal column of Murphy protruding from the Predator’s belt like some sort of oversized grisly keychain.

“There is no way for you to escape me now.” The Yautja was saying to Ace in its guttural speech.

“I’m not trying to escape, spaghetti-face!” Ace shot back defiantly. “Let’s do this!”

“You are in such a hurry to die!” the Predator offered one of his grotesque smiles, made all the more repulsive thanks to the missing mandible severed by Ace.

“I don’t understand why you want me anyway?” Ace replied. “My skull’s gonna look hideous on your mantelpiece!”

The Predator seemed to regard this as a genuine question.

“You alone have provided me with any sort of sport out of all of the humans. The others died too easily!” he explained. “I am a leader among my people and I desire an opponent worthy of my prowess. You are that opponent!”

Ace realised that the Yautja was paying her a compliment.

“Thanks, I guess.” She replied humbly, then she set her jaw firmly. “Enough with the chit-chat! Let’s dance, big-boy!”

They began to fight.

“STOP!!!”

The two combatants froze in mid-fight, their spears crossed together, and looked to see who had spoken.

The Doctor was standing in the doorway.

“This is not your fight, Time Lord!” the Predator snarled.

“If it involves Ace then it is my fight!” the Doctor proclaimed menacingly. “Harm one hair on her head and I will destroy you!”

The Yautja stepped back from Ace and threw back his head, and he laughed raucously. The sound was very disconcerting escaping from that mouth.

“I do not fear you, Time Lord!” the Predator declared once his merriment had subsided.

“There’s been enough killing!” the Doctor retorted, his voice tainted with disgust. “Don’t you have enough trophies already?”

“I just need one more!” the Predator told him and with those words he raised his spear and turned back to Ace.

“Yes, that’s what I thought you’d say!” the Doctor muttered angrily.

The Yautja was no longer listening.

“Now, Newman!” the Doctor shouted.

Newman sprang from behind the doorway and pointed the Doctor’s bizarre metal rod at the Yautja. He pressed the button on the side and even he was surprised when a devastating bolt of electricity arced from the end of the rod, like lightning from Zeus himself, and struck the Predator full on.

The Yautja writhed and shrieked as the electricity danced through his body and then as quick as the lightning it resembled it was gone.

For a moment the Predator stood there stiffly, smoke pouring from his body, and he stared at the Doctor and Newman, his alien expression inscrutable as ever… then he fell to the floor and lay still.

Ace stood over the prone form of her former opponent and saw that his chest was rising and falling shallowly.

“He’s still alive, Professor. Shall I finish him off?” she asked.

“No.” the Doctor answered bitterly. “Like I said before, there’s been enough killing.”

 

The Predator awoke to find himself sat in the pilot seat on his ship. Through the window he could see nothing but stars and it didn’t take long for him to ascertain that he was already half way home.

“Ah you’re awake!” a voice jolted his attention from the window.

He snarled with frustration as he recognised the holographic figure of the Time Lord being projected from his own console.

“You should be half way home by now!” the Time Lord continued cheerfully. “I hope you don’t mind, but we’ve taken away your human ‘trophies’.” He pronounced that particular word distastefully.

“They will receive the proper burial as is their right by human custom. Don’t worry, you still have all your other fancy knick-knacks!”

The Predator glanced behind him at his trophy rack and indeed the human skulls and hides were missing.

“I’ve locked your ship on its present course. Even if you were to override it and try to come back, I promise you that we’ll be long gone by the time you get there. So if I were you I’d sit back and enjoy the journey and consider yourself lucky to be alive!” the Time Lord doffed his straw hat. “Good bye!”

And then the hologram vanished.

The Predator let out a mighty roar of anger and frustration, but alone, in space, there was no one around to hear it.

 

Back on Bevara VI Ace had said her farewells to Shidonei promising to come back and visit sometime.

Newman had started transmitting the distress signal again so that a ship could be sent to collect him, but until then the Bevarans had offered him their hospitality and he would be their honoured guest until such time the rescue ship would arrive.

The Doctor and his two young companions returned to the TARDIS and left Bevara VI behind them, off in search of more adventure.

 

**The End**


End file.
